


Memories

by Aki_Aiko



Category: Tin Man
Genre: Community: 30_memories, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 23:53:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1960974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aki_Aiko/pseuds/Aki_Aiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>30 drabbles, memories of the past.  Glitch-centric but others included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Used 30_memories on LJ as a template but not an official entry. Occurs either pre-series or contains memories of pre-series happenings. There's five extra prompts (31-35) that I'll add to this later.

30 Memories  
Tin Man  
Glitch-centric

1\. Ten Annuals Ago...

Azkadellia stared at the vat in front of her, inside of which part of a brain floated, peaceful, as if it hadn’t been ripped from its home and left to float adrift.

 _‘It was necessary,’_ the witch whispered to her.

“I know, but-“

_‘Don’t think about it too hard, dear. You’ll only hurt yourself.’_

Azkadellia flinched.

 

2\. Rings-

When Cain woke up, Adora smiled at him and threaded her hand through his, the wedding band on her finger clinking against his own. Her hair shone in the morning light. It made her look ethereal, like an angel.

“You’re not real,” Cain whispered.

“Don’t be silly, Wyatt. I’m right here.”

He’d spent almost a decade watching a memory repeat itself. Long enough to tell she was just a phantom in his bed.

 

3\. Omamori-

Before his mom could pull him out the door, Jeb broke into the late Wyatt Cain’s small metal storage box and place a little horse into the mix of things. His dad had made it for him. To Jeb, this token was as important as that tin man badge inside.

 

4\. Lost-

He’d seen this tree before.

“I think I’m lost.” Glitch looked to the two boys who sat on a log nearby for help. They both had grins on their faces and were trying to suppress snickers behind their dirty hands. Maybe he knew them. “Do you know where I’m going?”

“That way, mister.” One of the boys pointed east-west? No, east, Glitch was sure of it.

He gave them a friendly smile. “Thank you!”

There wasn’t a proper road in whatever small town he’d wandered into, so he had to make his way through sparse woods, until, finally...

“Huh.” Glitch frowned up at the tree in front of him. “I think I’m lost.”

Two boys sat on a log nearby. One of the boys pointed east-or was it west?-and said, “You were going that way, mister.”

His snorted into his hand, obviously amused. Something in Glitch’s brain was poking and prodding, trying to make its way to the forefront of the conversation, but it died a quick synaptic death. Glitch blinked and looked around, confused. Two boys sat on a log nearby.

“Hi! Can you help me? I think I’m lost.”

 

5\. Do you remember...

“Do you remember the day we had these planted?” Queen Lavender squeezed her husband’s hand. They stood in front of two withered trees enclosed by a small fence.

“One for each girl,” Ahamo said. “DG wanted to do it herself, if I recall.”

“She always was a hands-on type of girl.”

 

6\. Anniversary-

The queen and her consort waltzed across the ballroom, the only dancers on the floor. A soft, magical glow surrounded them. From his corner of the room, Ambrose smiled and sipped at his wine. The two of them had been married for ten years now, long enough for the kingdom to stabilize and heirs to be produced. His job was growing easier now that the O.Z. had begun to settle.

 

7\. I promise I’ll be back-

Ahamo pressed his forehead against Lavender’s and whispered, “I promise I’ll be back.”

 

8\. Sunset-

Sunset had to be the best time of day, even if she rarely got up to see them anymore. Maybe it was just nostalgia. DG and her dad used to watch the sun rise together, sitting on the porch while he told her stories about his hometown. Sometimes, he’d tell her stories about another place full of magic, one full of things she’d never see stuck as she was in Kansas.

 

9\. Figuring-

Princess Azkadellia’s forces were marching towards them. The rebels had scattered and only a few remained behind. It was only a matter of time before the castle fell. Ambrose tossed his papers into the fire, everything and anything that might turned to evil use. The Sun Seeder wasn’t the only powerful thing he’d created.

 

10\. I’ll miss you-

Lavender watched as her daughter took the robot Emily’s hand and walked away. She itched to grab her back but knew...it was safer this way. Still, it would have been nice to know that DG missed her.

 

11\. Wait for me...-

Az’s head jerked up as her little sister ran by, hair fluttering behind her. “Deeg? Where are you going?”

“Ambrose is testing fireworks over the lake!”

“I thought Mom talked him out of...hey, wait for me!” Az hopped off the swing and chased after her.

 

12\. Is it you?-

Amidst the fighting, Miller and his handpicked group of men made it to the lower dungeons, which we dark, dank, and grimy. Here they moved slowly, shining lights into each cell. They only had time to save one, so had to leave the others, something unthinkable in their former lives.

Miller would have let his light skip over one of the cells had not a glint of metal caught his eye. He paused and approached the grated door, illuminating the inside of the cell. A man sat huddled and ungainly in the far right corner. Miller stared, heart dropping.

“Ambrose?”

 

13\. Wonderland-

The world was a wonderland when one had only half a brain. Everything was new every day.

 

14\. Chimes-

He could hear chimes coming from somewhere nearby. No matter how many times Glitch turned round and around, he couldn’t find the source. But the sound filled his head. No matter how many times he shook or smacked it.

Maybe he was in a chapel, locked in a damp basement. Except a basement didn’t have bars.

 

15\. Silent Night-

DG sat up in bed reading by low candlelight when she heard, through her cracked open door, two voices murmuring to each other out in the hallway. Recognizing one of them, she jumped up, ran to the door, and flung it all the way open.

Outside, in the hallway, Ambrose paused and turned, unlinking his arm from the man beside him. They shared a quick look. The other man, one of the royal guardsmen, began to walk away.

Ambrose knelt down. “Princess, what are you doing up so late?”

 

16\. Video Clips-

The same scene played over and over. At the first flicker of the screen, Cain flinched. DG, sitting on his left, put a hand on his arm and squeezed lightly. From his other side, Glitch patted his knee. Raw, sitting by DG, made a soothing sound. Cain forced his muscles to relax and leaned back to enjoy the movie.

 

17\. Revenge-

It rained every time Queen Lavender set her lips and said no. Thunder, lightening, even hail. She didn’t even have shelter to hide under. All for an old woman’s vengeance.

 

18\. Tears-

Azkadellia stepped from the room and was transported to a time and place she’d wished never to return to. In the alchemist’s lair, Ambrose was laid out on and strapped down to a table. Raynz stood by his head, counting down the last minutes. He was already on ninety, which meant...

“No! Stop, please.” She ran to Ambrose’s side and stared in horror at his sleeping figure. At the sound of a surgical instrument revving up, she began to tug uselessly at the straps holding him down, still begging in a broken voice for this nightmare to end. To somehow fix this.

Ambrose’s eyes popped open and his hand clamped onto hers. Azkadellia shrieked and stumbled backwards. Suddenly, she was back in the hallway, back in the here and now.

 

19\. Please forget about me-

She kissed his lips in desperation-who was she again?

“Anabel. I-“

Ana pulled away. “Go. Forget about me.”

He nodded and stepped away. Already, he was having trouble remembering.

 

20\. Diary-

Glitch found a book of secrets in one of his old trunks. The longcoats had left it untouched, probably unable to spring the lock, but his hands had simply brushed away whatever magic had been laid on it and spun the dial without thought. 

The book was made from old leather and creaked when the opened it. Ambrose spoke to him about love, full of math and big words.

 

21\. Bizarre-

The viewer felt like some kind of bizarre creature, with wires sticking out of his head and trailing into bulky machinery. The brain floating in front of him was strangely still inside itself, except for vague mutterings that Lilo ignored. Until it got in the way of his searching.

The alchemist in charge zapped him, frying the brain via their connected neural pathway. If this brain, this Ambrose, still had access to feelings, he would have been irritated at the pain.

 _‘I’ll tell her nothing,’_ it said to Lilo.

 _“You don’t have to,”_ the viewer answered. He’d found what he needed in the pause between pain and recovery. 

 

22\. Last meal-

One of the guards pushed a bowl of slop through the opening of the cell and laughed. “Enjoy your last meal, Advisor.”

“What does that mean?” Ambrose went to the bars and gripped them tightly. “What do you mean?!”

 

23\. Pink carnation-

Lavender pinned the flower to Ambrose’s lapel and smiled at the elegant picture he made. “Don’t forget to save me a dance.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. Though I doubt I’ll have many women waiting.”

“Nonsense. You’re a wonderful dancer.”

 

24\. Rosemary; remembrance-

The smell of rosemary made Glitch’s nose twitch. His synapses were firing left and right but couldn’t connect long enough for the needed memory to stick. He had the fleeting notion of comfort, of soft arms encircling him, but soon enough it slipped away.

 

25\. Zinnia; thoughts of friends-

The soldiers milled about camp, everyone on edge. When the scout returned, he handed shook his head when Miller asked, “The queen?”

“Hidden with magic. No one knows where she is. But the advisor...”

Around them, the others paused.

“He’s alive, then. Any word on his condition?”

Again, the scout shook his head. “He’s alive, that’s all anyone knows that not in the Sorceress’s inner circle.”

Miller started barking orders to his men. If they couldn’t rescue their queen, at least they could get back her advisor. With the most brilliant man in the O.Z.’s planning, evil would certainly fall.

 

26\. Yellow tulip; hopeless love-

DG’s first love was a drifter who came through town when she was in high school. He was blond and blue-eyed, but rough-looking, a man who lived on the road. No matter how much she fluttered around him, he never once looked at her. 

 

27\. Love you for a life time-

Lavender pressed a kerchief into Ahamo’s hand before he left, a token to remember her by. It smelled of her. He took it out often and pressed it to his nose, against his lips, despite the chemical taste of perfume. The scent faded over time, no matter how he tried to preserve it. He tried to replicate the smell but couldn’t make anything that smelled quite like her. 

 

28\. Black rose; death-

He didn’t know much, just enough to know that the sounds outside the...the house? No, that wasn’t right. The sounds of clashing and smashing weren’t right. Someone shouted. He huddled in on himself, hands over his ears, and would have stayed there had someone big and bloody hadn’t opened up a flap to the outside world, making the noises louder, and grabbed him by the arm.

And they were running, running. He ran by himself and stopped, looked around the still meadow. It was too quiet for some reason. The thought quickly slipped away and he stumbled off in a random direction. 

 

29\. Sky blue-

DG’s eyes were a strange blue, not quite the shade of either of her parents’ eyes. 

“You get them from your mother’s side,” Popsicle said when she’d asked about it.

Emily Gale smiled at her and changed the subject.

 

30\. Memories-

Her dreams were memories; his memories were dreams-both ephemeral.


End file.
